El Niño effect: Drought declared for Tonga's main island

A drought has been declared for Tonga's main island Tongatapu as well as the nearby island of 'Eua, and authorities have put out warnings and alerts for other islands.

The climate pattern El Niño was officially declared in September by Tonga's Meteorological Services, which will mean warmer temperatures, less rainfall, and more cyclones for the nation.

Metservice deputy director Laitia Fifita says the drought is not expected to ease anytime soon.

Fifita says looking towards the next three months for the Tonga group it's still expected that this trend will continue to have below-average precipitation or rainfall for the island divisions in Tonga.

He says when drought is mentioned, the general perspective is that it will be completely dry, there will never be a single drop of rain but there will be rain over time but the amount of rain that will fall will still be below average.

 Source: RNZ